Next steps

Where to from here with my Z scale adventures?
I have to admit I was definitely on a bit of a high after the show the layout had run so well. Especially as a "well meaning" N scaler went to great pains to tell me that the Micro Trains GP35 was noted for overheating and could melt the body of the loco. Well matey boy, it didn't. It ran faultlessly for six hours and never felt warm.
The next steps then. Well, I've ordered a couple of kits. A Z track craftsman kit of a centrebeam lumber car. The prototype is a car I see a lot of when I'm out lineside watching trains. They are a pretty distinctive prototype and the kit is not unreasonably priced. When finished, it will add more interest to the freight train as it runs around the layout.

Then for a bit of fun I ordered a pack of these, picnic tables from rslaser.

Fun? Yes. they'll be pretty small. Just how small I don't know. Knowing how small I'll be able to work in Z will help me decide just what I can do. When I get some of these built I'll add a picnic site to the layout for a little visual feature.

What else?

In a few weeks I'm off back up to the Knife River locale again. I'll be running Grandmas Marathon again. The old depot at Knife River still exists to the best of my knowledge so I plan to pay it a visit, photograph it and then construct a model of that and site it on the curve at the front right where there is plenty of space to fit it in.

Another item of rolling stock would be nice. The American Z lines Budd RDC-2 perhaps, to provide a passenger service to the new depot. It's not exactly the same as the RDC-3 that the DMIR used but would be near enough for me I think.

Should be enough to keep me going for a while I think. When I get those projects done I think I'll be well on the way to deciding what I can achieve in Z.